First

[Pyrobug]

Hey guys, been readin the post on here for awile now, and i finaly have a project of my own. First time doin it and I dont have easy access to a welder so i bought the frame. Its a murray frame, I dont know what kind but i got it for $75 and its got alot of the parts i need. Im think a 6hp engine but i do want this thing to have some zip and i would appreciate any help you could give.

 

[anderkart]

Hey that's a cool kart man Some guys here install Motorcycle or Snowmobile engines on karts like yours. You'd get awesome performance but I'd require some serious motor mounting mods and at least some welding is usually necessary.

Looks like you could bolt most any 5 to 6.5hp industrial/go kart type engine right up to your motor mount. I picked up a used 13hp Honda GX390 engine off a pressure washer for $50 a while back on craigslist that'd be pretty sweet on a project like yours. Larger sized engines like mine have a larger motor mounting bolt patterns but your motor mounts 4 slotted holes might just be made to fit several different sized engines. (if not, it wouldn't be too difficult to mod yours w/o welding)

One drawback to larger sized engines like mine is they usually require the clutch (or torque converter) to be sized to fit the engines larger 1" pto/crankshaft size. These bigger clutches are usually more expensive and harder to find than the 3/4" shaft sized clutches that the 5/6.5hp sized engines use but you'd end up with a good bit better performance from a larger engine.

If your on a tight budget you might check out the info in this thread: http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6756&highlight=Harbor+Freight+Parking+Sale

 

[dcook3333]

Agree with Anderkart. Big is nice, but building is tougher.
If you want ease, stick with an 8 horsepower or less and a torq-a-verter. Just make sure the engine has a 3/4 inch output shaft and the torq-a-verter accepts the same.

It looks like you got a good frame to start with.

 

[Pyrobug]

Thanks guys, Anderkart, sounds like you got a great deal on that motor, unfortunatly I'v got a Honda gx160. About 5.5hp that i got with a chainguard and another engine minnus some parts(air filter, carb, tank) for about $100, the complete one runs great, it came off a small rental kart that had been governed to about 3000 rpms. Also the guy i bought it from told me to make it work I would need to get a "jack shaft kit" from northern tool. It came with some sort of gearbox on it, wich I removed. I'm not sure what there called.

 

[jacko206]

its a 2:1 reduction gear box i wouldn't of taken it off.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

If that's a 2:1 reducer with a built in clutch, can it not be useful as is? Wouldn't that perform the function of a jackshaft in a nice, compact, self-contained unit? Just take your desired ratio (say, 6:1) divide by two, and gear for it. Like 10T on the output of that thing, and 30T on the axle...

 

[khank1995]

these kart frames are strong my friend bought one and it was a beast. Its called a murry explore

 

[NJOHC]

I've always wanted to buy one of those karts to mess around with. It's everything I wish mine had stock.
You got a good deal on a genuine honda, if you want some more power out of it check out these two sites. They're both great guys.
http://www.affordablegokarts.com/
http://www.nr-racing.com/index.htm

 

[Pyrobug]

The jackshaft idea is an interesting one but the reason i need one is becouse my engine shaft is on the left and my sprocket is on the right side, i was going to use the jackshaft to transfer power.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Would it not be lighter/ cheaper/ simpler to relocate the axle sprocket?

 

[Pyrobug]

I would love to do that, but the brake would interfere with the drive and I cant really do it, believe me I would if I could, I eve ntried taking the axel assembly and messing with that but it didnt work. I found a murray explorer manuel and it shows a piece called a jackshaft plate. Its bassicly a plate that goes under the engine and has another axel on it. I wish I could find one, it would make my life alot simpler.

 

[anderkart]

Does it look like this might fit: http://cgi.ebay.com/Minibike-choppe...emQQimsxZ20100313?IMSfp=TL1003131310010r29578

 

[Blazkowiez]

Did you throw out the gear reduction unit? Being as comet is gone you might consider using the reduction unit to power this Murray Explorer given its large tires. Murray built very weak karts which tear up easily given the gauge of steal, I would suggest against using a larger engine, they look great and sound great but will rip this frame apart.

If you have the gear reduction use it! You have no idea how awesome it is that you do have this.

 

[Pyrobug]

OK guys, been awhile, partly because of school but also the project stalled for a bit, but here is what I have done now. I bought a jackshaft kit from northern tool, some chain, and a clutch. Everything I needed to virtually finish up my kart. I got it home and decided to fit the clutch....it didn't fit, seemed strange because the engine is listed as having a 3/4 inch shaft, and I had a 3/4 clutch. Well, turns out my shaft was a metric one and was 20mm, 2mm to bighttp://www.diygokarts.com/vb/images/smilies/mad2.gif. I couldn't find a 20mm clutch anywhere, all i could find was a belt drive one so, being resourceful I took apart one of my gearboxes and removed the clutch from ithttp://www.diygokarts.com/vb/images/smilies/idea2.gif. It fits, and works great(in the test runs...no load). With that solved I'm working on a mounting plate to put it all together, here are the pictures of the drive assembly.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

Looks like a nice clutch, plate clutches hit hard. The only thing i can say is, if it was meant to be in a gearbox with oil, using it without oil will probably create unneeded wear.

 

[solomon]

Yup, lI would oil that clutch every hour of use.

 

[Pyrobug]

ok guys, its been awile, iv been working on a plate to mout the engine and the jackeshaft, got that working nicely but i wount bother with pictures(its not much to look at, just a piece of plate steel with some bearings on it) but it took a long time becouse Im working with stone age tools. Now my problem is breaking the chain to make it fit, I have 10ft of #40 chain from northern tool, need two pieces, one for engine-jackshaft and one for jackshatf-drive sprocket...

 

[anderkart]

You can use a small punch/hammer to drive chain pins out or you'll find several chain breaker tools made to work with #40 size chain in this search link: http://www.google.com/search?source...&rlz=1T4GZAZ_enUS369US369&q=#40+chain+breaker

 

[Pyrobug]

OK, been a long time between posts but i have gotten a lot of work done. I have the everything working properly except the tires don't hold air. One does not even inflate so they need to be fixed, my engine and drive assembly is done and works. The kart runs up on blocks but wont move when I"m in it. (can"t overcome those flat tires). Looks like we are going to get some nice speed out of this thing...I have it stripped down for painting and am working on sanding everything till its rust free right now.
Things Left To DO
-paint(blue and black)
-remake seat
-tires(maybe bigger?)
-roof mounted potato cannon

 

[Pyrobug]

Also got that chain fixed up, thanks ander